Swimmer&#39;s hand paddle



July 4, 1967 A. BERTHIOT SWIMMER'S HAND PADDLE Filed May 20, 1965 UnitedStates Patent O 3,328,812 SWIMMERS HAND PADDLE Andr Berthiot, 7 Blvd.Richard Wallace, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Filed May 20, 1965, Ser. No.457,397 Claims priority, application France, Aug. 18, 1964, 985,482,Patent 1,248,039 4 Claims. (Cl. 9307) This invention relates to handpaddles for swimmers, of the type adapted to be mounted on the back ofthe swimmers hand by fastening means passing round the wrist, themetacarpus or the phalanges and leaving the thumb free.

Hand paddles of this type are already known. They comprise a rigid endblade projecting considerably from the ends of the ungual phalanges.

These known paddles are objectionable in that they are not jointed orhinged and therefore cannot be attached to the finger tips, since thegripping faculty of fingers must be preserved.

Furthermore, as the paddle tip can move more or less away from thefingers during the tractive movements exerted underwater the eiiciencyof these paddles is rather questionable.

It is the essential object of this invention to avoid this inconvenienceby providing an improved paddle adapted to be secured on the swimmershand while leaving the thumb free, this paddle comprising a blade longerthan the hand length and being moulded from suitable plastic material;furthermore, this blade is slightly concave on its inner face and formedwith two thinner transverse portions disposed on either side of thecentral region of the blade to constitute a front hinge and a rear hingeadapted to cover respectively the first joint and the second joint ofthe hand, this swimmers hand paddle further comprising a relativelywide, non-extensible strap connected to and passing over the front innerend portion of the blade proper, beyond said front hinge zone, thefingers except thte thumb being adapted to be engaged under this strap,the assembly being completed by an elastic band mounted on the rear endof the blade proper and adapted to be adjustably secured on the usersWrist.

This band holds the blade in the proper position and urges it backwardswhen the hand is re-stretched or open after having been closed.

The paddle is advantageously manufactured from a suitable mouldedplastic, except for the rear fastening band. This manufacture isconvenient and the paddle thus obtained is both sturdy and efficient.

The paddle may be provided on its outer face with longitudinalstiffening libs intersected by grooves in the aforesaid two thinnertransverse zones constituting the front and rear hinges.

Preferably, the finger tips do not project from the front edge of thefinger-holding strap for the front end portion of the paddle shouldproject to a substantial extent beyond the finger tips in order toproduce an efhcient action on the water.

The paddle may be provided on its inner face, in the region thereofadapted to contact the back of the swimmers hand, with a exible liningof latex foam or synthetic resin foam.

The blade joints enable the user to close the fists completely, so thathe can hold or grip something; in other words, wearing these paddle doesnot prevent the user from gripping objects.

Nevertheless, the users hand is in constant full contact with the paddlesurface, thus ensuring a maximum tractive effort in the water medium.The structure according to this invention will thus improve the paddleefi`1-` ICC ciency by alternatively permitting of reducing the paddlelength, or in other words its dimensions and weight.

A specific form of embodiment of this invention will now be described byway of example with reference to the attached `diagrammatic drawing, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a plan View showing the inner face of the paddle;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view showing the outer face of the paddle; v

FIGURE 3 is a side view showing the paddle mounted on the right hand ofthe user.

The paddle 1 consists of a blade moulded from suitable plastic materialand is advantageously slightly concave on its inner face. It comprises awidened and rounded front portion 2. On its outer or back face it isformed preferably but not compulsorily with longitudinal stitfening ribs3 and two fiexible thinner transverse regions 4, 5 consisting ofrecesses visible on the outer face, these two regions being located oneither side of the central region 6 of the blade and constituting thehinge zones thereof. In these regions 4, 5 the ribs 3, if provided, arediscontinued by grooves 7 so that these regions remain flexible toconstitute hinge-like portions; the ribs 3 prevent the thinner regions4, 5 from bending abnormally outwardly, thus preventing at the same timean abnormal turning of the fingers inside out when a strong pressure isexerted accidentally on the blade 2.

The front section 2 of this blade may comprise two longitudinal slots 8located near its lateral edges. The function of these slots is to permitthe mounting on the blade, by any conventional means, beyond the thinnerfront portion 4, of a relatively wide strap 9 passing over the outerface of the blade and under which the fingers may be inserted. However,this strap 9 may advantageously be moulded integrally with the paddle toconstitute a unitary structure therewith.

Two shorter slots 10 are disposed obliquely near the edges of the rearportion 11 of the blade, beyond the rear thinner zone 5 thereof. Theseslots permit of mounting an adjustable elastic band 12 adapted to fitround the users wrist `and over the back face of the blade, thefastening means of this band consisting for example of dome-fasteners13, 14 of which one of the two components may be multiple (not shown) inorder to permit the adjustment according to the wrist size.

A pad or lining of foam material 15 such as rubber or plastic foam isglued on the inner face of the blade and adapted to be engaged by theback of the hand to improve the users comfort.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the position of the users hand on the paddle. Thelingers, except the thumb, are introduced under the strap 9; preferably,the finger tips 16 do not project from this strap and the front portion2 projects to a substantial extent from the finger tips. The thumb isfree and the band 12 is clamped obliquely round the wrist. It will beseen that the hinge-forming thinner strips 4, 5 permit the freemovements of the first and second joints of the fingers, respectively.The rear portion 11 of the blade covers the back of the hand and itsrear edge lies just ahead of the wrist joint so as to abut against thewrist when the hand is bent outwardly.

Of course, various details may be modified in the practical embodimentof the paddle described hereinabove and illustrated in the drawing,notably by altering the number an-d shape of the stifening ribs, or inconnection with the structure of the two thinner hinge-forming regions,without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A swimmers hand paddle adapted to be secured on the back of the handwhile leaving the thumb free, comprising, a blade which is of a lengthto extend from a irst end in the vicinity of the wearers wrist to asecond end beyond the end of the users lingers; A said blade being anintegral unit comprised of a suitable plastic having a tirst thickness;said blade having two regions intermediate said irst and said secondends which have a second thickness less than said rst thickness; saidregions being separated from each4 other and extending transverselyacross said blade; one of said regions comprising a front hinge and theother of said regions comprising a rear hinge, adapted to engage,respectively the first and second joints of the lingers; each of saidregions having such Width that each of said regions can bend around theoutside of the knuckles of its respective joint;

said blade having an outer lface with stitfening ribs thereto attached;said ribs extending longitudinally along substantially the entire lengthof said blade to stiften its entire length and prevent flexion of saidblade;

said ribs also extending over said regions; said ribs having a pluralityof gaps over said regions, whereby said ribs stillen sai-d regions, butpermit them to be flexed as the joints of the lingers are exed, while atthe same time preventing said regions from bending backward;

a strap of a nonextensible material attached to said blade intermediatesaid lirst hinge and said second end of said blade for securing saidblade to the ends of the fingers of the wearer;

a second strap attached to said blade in the vicinity of said rst end ofsaid blade for securing said blade to the wrist of the wearer.

2. A swimmers hand paddle as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bladehas an inner face; said inner face having a portion which contacts theback of the wearers hand; said portion being provided with a flexiblelining of a material selected from the group comprising latex foam andsynthetic foam materials.

3. A swimmers hand paddle adapted to be secured to the back of theswimmers hand but leaving the thumb free, which comprises a bladesomewhat longer than the hand, said blade comprising a unitary piece ofmolded plastic material and comprises from its front end to its rearend: a relatively wide and rounded blade (2) adapted to projectsubstantially from the finger tips at the front, a first flexibletransverse thinner section (4) adapted to cover the portion extendingbetween the second joints and the phalanges of the users hand, anintermediate section (6), another transverse thinner flexible section 5)adapted to cover the portion extending between the phalanges and themetacarpus of the hand, and a rear section (11) adapted to extend up tothe wrist joint, a non-extensible and relatively wide strap (9) mountedon the rear portion of blade (2) and adapted to receive thereunder thefinger tips and one portion of the top` joints of the users hand, and anelastic strap (12) mounted at the rear of the rear section (11) of theblade and adapted to be adjustably tightened around the users Wrist.

4. A swimmers hand paddle as set forth in claim 3, which is formed withlongitudinal ribs (3) on its back face to prevent it from bendingoutwardly, said ribs being cut by transverse grooves (7) located in itstwo thinner and flexible sections (4) and (5) to permit the inwardbending of these sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,413,967 4/1922 Clarke 9-3073,107,371 10/1963 Thompson 9-303 FOREIGN PATENTS 556,165 4/ 1958 Canada.1,248,039 10/1960 France. 638,470 10/1959 Italy.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

P. E. SAUBERER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SWIMMER''S HAND PADDLE ADAPTED TO BE SECURED ON THE BACK OF THEHAND WHILE LEAVING THE THUMB FREE, COMPRISING, A BLADE WHICH IS OF ALENGTH TO EXTEND FROM A FIRST END IN THE VICINITY OF THE WEARER''S WRISTTO A SECOND END BEYOND THE END OF THE USER''S FINGERS; SAID BLADE BEINGAN INTEGRAL UNIT COMPRISED OF A SUITABLE PLASTIC HAVING A FIRSTTHICKNESS; SAID BLADE HAVING TWO REGIONS INTERMEDIATE SAID FIRST ANDSAID SECOND ENDS WHICH HAVE A SECOND THICKNESS LESS THAN SAID FIRSTTHICKNESS; SAID REGIONS BEING SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER AND EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID BLADE; ONE OF SAID REGIONS COMPRISING A FRONTHINGE AND THE OTHER OF SAID REGIONS COMPRISING A REAR HINGE, ADAPTED TOENGAGE, RESPECTIVELY THE FIRST AND SECOND JOINTS OF THE FINGERS; EACH OFSAID REGIONS HAVING SUCH WIDTH THAT EACH OF SAID REGIONS CAN BEND AROUNDTHE OUTSIDE OF THE KNUCKLES OF ITS RESPECTIVE JOINT; SAID BLADE HAVINGAN OUTER FACE WITH STIFFENING RIBS THERETO ATTACHED; SAID RIBS EXTENDINGLONGITUDINALLY ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF SAID BLADE TOSTIFFEN ITS ENTIRE LENGTH AND PREVENT FLEXION OF SAID BLADE; SAID RIBSALSO EXTENDING OVER SAID REGIONS; SAID RIBS HAVING A PLURALITY OF GAPSOVER SAID REGIONS, WHEREBY SAID RIBS STIFFEN SAID REGIONS, BUT PERMITTHEM TO BE FLEXED AS THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS ARE FLEXED, WHILE AT THESAME TIME PREVENTING SAID REGIONS FROM BENDING BACKWARD; A STRAP OF ANONEXTENSIBLE MATERIAL ATTACHED TO SAID BLADE INTERMEDIATE SAID FIRSTHINGE AND SAID SECOND END OF SAID BLADE FOR SECURING SAID BLADE TO THEENDS OF THE FINGERS OF THE WEARER; A SECOND STRAP ATTACHED TO SAID BLADEIN THE VICINITY OF SAID FIRST END OF SAID BLADE FOR SECURING SAID BLADETO THE WRIST OF THE WEARER.